Court rules on Akpobolokemi’s no-case submission October 16

A Federal High Court in Lagos has fixed October 16 for ruling on the no-case submission made by former Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Patrick Akpobolokemi and five others.

Justice Ibrahim Buba fixed the date on Friday after hearing arguments on the no-case submission by the defence counsel, Mr. Joseph Nwobike (SAN).

The accused persons were arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on December 4, 2015 for allegedly diverting N2.6 billion from the coffers of NIMASA between December 2013 and May 2015.

The EFCC claimed that the funds were approved by ex-President Goodluck Jonathan for the implementation of a security project.

The accused people had pleaded not guilty to the 22 charges pressed against them.

The prosecution had opened its case and during trial, called 12 witnesses and tendered 77 exhibits in a bid to establish prima- facie case against the accused persons.

After the prosecution closed its case, the accused, through their lawyers, filed no-case submissions, contending that the prosecution failed to established a prima-facie case against them to warrant their entering any defence.

Arguing Akpobolokemi’s no-case submission, Nwobike contended that the EFCC failed to link his client with the alleged diversion of funds from NIMASA.

Nwobike pointed out that his signature to such effect was never shown to the court.

The counsel said the first accused could not be held liable because he did not approve the security project and the money disbursed.

Nwobike also described the evidence given against the accused by the prosecution witness as mere hearsay, which he said, had no legal weight before the court.

He, therefore, urged the court to come to the conclusion that the first accused could not be called upon to enter any defence because no prima-facie case had been established against him.

In response, the EFCC counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, maintained that the testimonies of the 12 witnesses and the 77 exhibits tendered had successfully linked Akpobolokemi to the alleged fraud.

He argued that being the head and chief accounting officer of NIMASA at the time of the alleged fraud, Akpobolokemi could not by any stretch of imagination claim to be innocent.

He argued that even if it was the former President that approved the security project, Akpobolokemi was the head of NIMASA at the time, who constituted a committee to handle the project and also approved funds.

He submitted that the prosecution had established that rather than its intended purpose, the funds were illegally converted to the personal use of the accused.